Compact fluorescent lamps, well known, usually have a glass bulb bent into U shape, from which end a single base extends. Connecting pins project from the base. The axes of the connecting pins or lugs extend parallel to the axis of the glass bulb.
Various types of sockets are available for lamps of this kind. In one socket, the insertion of the lamp in the socket, or removal of the lamp, is carried out by a movement parallel to the lamp bulb legs, and hence the socket pins, that is, an insertion or removal movement, in-and-out, in the direction of the legs of the lamp. Fixtures in which such sockets are used thus must provide for sufficient space at the end of the lamp remote from the base thereof. In another type of socket, insertion and removal is carried out by a movement transversely to the base pins. This permits manufacture of a smaller housing, or lamp fixture or luminairs for the compact fluorescent lamp.
The referenced German Patent Disclosure Document DE-OS 37 44 580 describes a lamp socket which has a generally block-shaped socket housing. One side of the socket housing forms an engagement surface for the lamp base and is formed with parallel slits corresponding to the number of socket pins of the lamp. These slits pass through the engagement surface as well as through a side surface of the socket housing. Contact strips or springs extend into the slits to establish electrical contact between the base pins and an external wiring to the lamp. The socket housing is formed with a projecting collar which is formed with a recess at the same side in which the slits pass through the side wall of the socket housing. A small projecting hook extends from the opposite side of the recess. When the lamp base is inserted into the socket, the lamp base is prevented from removal in the direction of the connecting pins by this hook.
The connecting terminals within the housing have, in cross section, approximately hook shape. Upon insertion of the socket pins, they deflect and, as soon as the lamp is completely inserted, the contact pins can return completely or almost completely into their initial position. Due to the hook shape, the contact pins prevent removal of the lamp from the socket. To permit removal, for example if the lamp is defective or has burned out, an additional slider is present in the housing of the socket, engageable with the contact springs, in order to remove the contact springs from the profile of the region of the slits, so that the lamp can be removed from its socket.
It has been found that the provision of an additional slider, and the specifically bent contact springs, which may have a complex shape, substantially increase the manufacturing costs of the sockets. Additional parts must be assembled and the tolerances must be very tight.